7 Reasons People Hate Jazz | You'll Hear It S1 E145

Today, Peter and Adam talk about 7 reasons that people hate jazz.

Episode #145 from the "You'll Hear It" podcast - daily jazz advice from a couple of jazz dudes. Jazz musicians Peter Martin & Adam Maness give you daily tips on how to develop as a jazz player. Listen for a combo of actionable advice and occasional humor in just 10 minutes a day.

#openstudio #jazz #podcast #petermartin #adammaness #tutorial #online #happypracticing

[laksitowp]

1. it sounds complicated 1:24
2. mostly it's instrumental 4:31
3. too many dudes... 7:10
4. often acoustic... 8:46
5. jazz musicians are nerds 10:22
6. songs are long 14:01
7. people are dumber than they used to be 15:21

[MrCrescendo]

I'm an amateur jazz musician. I often think jazz is like an inside game for the musicians to have a blast together playing, but that is really difficult for most listeners to find a way into as listeners. Obviously playing funkier, more straightforward and simple forms makes it more fun for many audiences.

[russspera]

Seven reasons to Love Jazz:

Art Blakey - Moanin'
Hank Mobley - Soul Station
Horace Silver - Song For My Father
John Coltrane - Blue Train
McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus

[Lebowski]

My fundamental problem with Jazz is that the musicians are having more fun than the audience.

[dirkdrek]

The problem with a lot of Jazz is where the musicians chops and knowledge of music theory have reached such a level that they feel compelled to showcase it at every opportunity. It can be exhilarating to watch live but on record it sounds, ironically a bit "one note".

[danfango]

I like the atmosphere jazz creates in a club/bar. I listen to jazz records and I zone out. Is it just me?

[spacealienjesus]

Jazz is my favorite genre of music..i grew up on punk, thrash, rap, and grunge.. and I hated Jazz..but as I got older it took me on a ride and helped out tremendously with my anxiety and depression.

[communityband]

I wish I liked jazz, but I've never been able to. It's difficult for me to put my finger on it, but there are a few things I believe just turn me off. First of all, some instruments featured frequently in jazz, like trumpet and sax, tend to emphasize bright timbres and high notes throughout a piece. For me, those qualities are best left to special moments in a song to create variety. When blared at me constantly, they just drive me nuts and lose any emotional value. To me, that's like yelling. It's okay to yell at times, but if someone does it all the time, I just want them to shut the hell up. :-) Another big problem for me is that I just don't like swing very much. I certainly like rhythmic diversity, and I know jazz has a good amount of that. But swing just doesn't create any value for me unless it's used in a very strategic and limited fashion. Another issue may be song form. I don't need ABA or anything particularly predictable, but for me, jazz songs often don't give me an enjoyable feeling of progression. Flow is often broken by soloing periods designed to show off musicianship. It makes me concentrate more on the performer than on the composition and story. There are things I like in jazz. I do like many of the chord colors used, and I enjoy listening to non-jazz music that utilizes jazz harmonies, especially without jazz progressions, "licks" and rhythms.

[dishwasherdetergent]

wow almost everyone in this comment section seems to really, really hate jazz. I don't get it. People are saying it "lacks form and structure" and that it's "discordant", and I've never really gotten any of that. Unless you're listening to extreme free jazz, jazz is quite structured and the harmony is usually very functional. I really think the "jazz is just random notes" mindset is a serious problem, and I worry that it's making people adopt a certain set of views about jazz that they hold to be absolute without ever really giving the music a chance to speak for itself.

[Ben-toven]

4 minutes in and my point is proven with long winded explanation to a easy answer. Jazz musicians love to hear themselves talk

[russk]

I was never a fan of jazz until I decided to try a few key chord progressions. As most guitar players probably know, there's a difference between listening to music and playing it. One thing that is cool about jazz is that you'll be learning new chords that you can apply to other forms of music. You'll definitely find it useful playing the blues, but you'd be surprised to discover "jazz" chords in some songs by rock groups. Check out the chord progression for "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or "The Rain Song" by Led Zeppelin. .

[Tigermaster]

I don't know why or how I stumbled upon this video, but, to be honest, I don't agree with it at all. I think I am a tolerable guitar player, although I don't even dare to think I'm a virtuoso and I won't compare myself to seasoned jazz musicians. With this in mind, here are my reasons to dislike jazz:


1. To the untrained ear, or, at the very least, to my ear everything sounds the same. I mean, not exactly the same, but it's either too chaotic (which is not the same as complex), or, when it is not chaotic, it is just elevator music. Most jazz guitar solos that I've heard sound way too similar to me - the same tone, the same tempo, the same rhythm, and no matter how technically proficient the guitarist is, when I can find more variety in a random power metal album, why shouldn't I listen to that instead?


2. I can't think of even ONE new jazz song. I'm not saying there aren't any, but even classical musicians and classical music fans aren't so stuck in the past. I've never heard anyone speak about "rock standards" or "metal standards", or "pop standards". With jazz... It's all standards, man!


3. Jazz fans are even more obnoxious than prog metal fans, and their habit to defecate upon other genres is really grating. After I saw 'Whiplash' (a movie that I loved, by the way, although purely musically it doesn't make a lot of sense), I searched for a few Buddy Rich solos to see why the leading character was so obsessed by him. Do you know how many comments mocking rock/metal drummers I saw under his videos? This, combined with their habit to constantly stroke their ego, is extremely off-putting, plus, it shows me mostly that they're ignorant. Why should I respect their opinion then?

[crissixstrings]

It's simple: Jazz musicians abandoned swing/groove/rhythm.

They went all-in on complexity, syncopation, sophistication, and turned their backs on what makes music hit people's souls.

I like and respect jazz, but the problem is not dissonance, amount of notes, acoustic instruments, nerds, but what jazz has abandoned.

All the music theory and sophistication in the world does not equate to soul.

[Wordgoblin]

One of the big reasons I hate jazz is because there's always some jazz musician ready to tell you "you just don't get it, " or some crap like "it takes a trained ear to like jazz." Guess what? People are allowed to hate your music. The music sounds like crap, the musicians are pretentious, and you know what? I'll just go ahead and say it, jazz schmazz.

[nakim]

Number one reason squares hate jazz, they have been brain washed by the CORPORATE music industry 24/7 to accept the LOWEST common denominator of music, which has pretty much rendered the masses tone deaf. That doesn’t bother me, because I quit buying into the media hype when I was 16, I am 66 now. The minute I HEARD Coltrane, Miles, Bird, Ornette, Cecil Taylor, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, that ENDED “pop culture, celebrity hype” music for me. Why listen to hacks when you can listen to geniuses?

[chillack]

I think the reason why some people hate jazz is that to them it sounds like elevator music.

[wbranum]

1. Almost never a melody
2. Complicated just for the sake of being complicated.
3. Improvisational, almost never hear the same song twice.
4. Dissonance, multiple musicians playing without regard to what the others are playing.
5. The songs have to be explained to be enjoyed.
6. The songs are created for the enjoyment of the performer and not the audience.
7. Self righteous snobs who look down their nose and make a comment like "most people are too dumb to understand it."

[MetalCrull]

I don't hate jazz, but many songs have like the sax so high in volume and the rest so low, it's like, resign to barely listen to the band or get a punch in the ear every now and then, or play with the volume knob the whole song. Maybe it's just that I'm young and born with music that's pretty omogenous in volume, but it's frustrating.

[grantkoeller]

Jazz is music for musicians. Jazz is not meant to appeal to everyone, especially non musicians.

[sbeu]

Jazz is improvisational and no matter how good you are, when you improvise you will fall into familiar patterns, runs and techniques and that makes Jazz have a sameness about it. The monotony of improvised music is probably the biggest factor for it's unpopularity. Also, the tiresome elitism is a huge turn off.